Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

Not sure about you, but to me, it is insane that it's already December! I feel like we all have a moment of disbelief when another month goes by quicker than the last but, I mean, my pumpkins are still on my front steps, alive and well. I pass them everyday and think that I should probably get rid of them but they're still there. Not sure what's holding me back. Is it just laziness? Or the sadness of saying goodbye to the fall? Hmm...

It's just WEIRD to be done with fall and into winter. Goodbye pumpkins, falling leaves, Thanksgiving, and apple cider! Hello gingerbread, snow, icy roads, and Christmas!

Don't get me wrong, I am PUMPED for Christmas and all that comes with it. A part of me is still clinging to that fall feeling, though. Feelings aside, my pantry is still in fall mode. I've still got a container of pumpkin pie spice, a bag of pumpkin spice chips, half a jug of apple cider (hmm, that should probably be tossed, now that I think of it...), and I bet there's still a can of pumpkin puree in there somewhere. What am I supposed to do with all those fall ingredients?

Well, I decided that just because the rest of the world has dismissed all things pumpkin the second the turkey carcass was tossed with the trash, it doesn't mean I have to do the same! No, sir!

I decided to upgrade a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe made famous by my Auntie Sue growing up. She made THE BEST cookies. They were so round and puffy and soft and chocked full of chocolate chips. I try to make her recipe every so often and still can't duplicate it. She revealed some secrets (her recipe calls for shortening instead of butter) and showed my sister and I how to get those chips just right (after the dough is in balls on the sheet tray, she covers them with even more chips - flat side up) but they still don't come out just like hers used to.

SO FRUSTRATING!

Oh well. I have accepted that I may never accomplish the perfection she did back in the day. Today, I followed her recipe and even followed her chip-covering method (though it takes awhile to get those chips in there one-by-one, it's worth it for such a pretty cookie!) but kicked it up a notch by adding pumpkin pie spice, cocoa, and pumpkin spice chips to the dough.

The result? A soft, pillowy cookie with the perfect hint of pumpkin spice and chocolate!

I guess it can be winter now. I still have my pumpkin pie spice on hand if any fall hankerings come on, but I suppose I can hold off until next year. This fall was so nice but it felt so short. I feel like we had only a few weeks of crisp and warm fall days before it became windy, chilly, dark-to-soon winter. What is that about? Ah, well, that's the story of New England.